Slow Motion Replay: Remembering the late Poppa Joe (Jaggers) @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @KyHighFootball, @khsaafootball, @KHSAA

Jaggers: the “first family” of Kentucky High School football; Joe Jaggers, its patriarch

He was affectionately known throughout the Kentucky High School coaching fraternity as “Poppa Joe.” He retired in 1998 Kentucky’s all-time winningest coach and retired at age 58 with five titles, in six attempts, and plenty more in the tank. People remark Poppa Joe may have been the finest to ever stride a sideline. Today, we pay homage to his family and him.

HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”

Kentucky: We usually identify the exact part of Kentucky from where our stories originate. However, there are Kentuckians so fundamentally belonging to the entire commonwealth that one area just can’t lay a legitimate claim to those families.

The family “Jaggers” are among those families. They may be the Kennedys of Kentucky High School football.

The “Jaggers” have coached and impacted the entire commonwealth of Kentucky. The “Jaggers” are the first family of Kentucky High School football. The “Jaggers legacy” belongs to all of us, not just some of us living in a certain part of the commonwealth.

Joe Jaggers, the son of the late Dr. C.H. and Ellouise Jaggers, was a football standout in the 50s for the Caldwell County Tigers. Jaggers last year playing for the Tigers was 1957. In ’57, the Tigers were named the WKC (Western Kentucky Conference) Class 2A Champions.

Alex Abad-Santos, writing for Vox.com, once said “In life, there are certain inevitabilities. In the United States, those inevitabilities include death, taxes, and hearing about the Kennedys.“ There are certain inevitabilities in Kentucky High School football as well.

Poppa Joe Jaggers was certainly such an inevitability. Matter of fact, the same may be fairly said about the entire Jaggers family.

Isn’t it amusing (and not too surprising) the patriarch of the Kennedy clan, and the Jaggers clan, should share the same given name (Joe)? We think so. Somethings are coincidences…somethings aren’t.

We have heard Joe Jaggers referred to by sophisticated and knowledgeable fans of the Kentucky High School version of the game of football as the “Bear Bryant” of the KHSAA. We could refer to him as “Coach Jaggers (and probably will)” but there have been numerous members of the “Jaggers” clan who were coaches. To most around the KHSAA, and the commonwealth of Kentucky, he will always be Poppa Joe.

Sons, Marty and Crad were both coaches. Grandson Josh Jaggers has been a coach and still is.

Among the Jaggers clan to coach, the Jaggers family has compiled well over 400 victories as head coaches with that number subject to rise as Josh is still coaching. Joe and Marty Jaggers are only the third father-son duo to win state titles.

Jack and Joe Morris each had multiple titles at Mayfield. Chuck Smith had several titles at Boyle County; while his son, Brandon, has multiple titles at South Warren.

Joe Jaggers was an accomplished golfer and may have been good enough for the PGA tour. Jaggers was offered by Florida State out of high school in golf. Instead, Joe went to Western Kentucky where he played golf and football.

The Jaggers clan shares something else we believe to be distinct to them. Joe, Marty, and Josh may comprise the only three generations of first team all-staters in Kentucky high school football history. Joe, Marty, and Josh may also comprise the only three-generations of head football coaches to all coach a football team to a regional title in KHSAA history.

The Jaggers clan makes a point and custom of doing things others just haven’t done or can’t do. It is kind of a Jaggers thing, if you will.

Joe Jaggers was a member of the 1957 All-State Football squad (Courier-Journal) before matriculating to WKU where he would play football and golf. In football, he played QB.

In 1957, Joe Jaggers housed a 54-yarder against Crittenden County. That same season, Jaggers returned a kickoff 73-yards for a score, had a 75-yard interception return for a pick-six against Daviess County, as well as many other plays highlighting his prep football career and prowess.

Son, Marty, was a member of the same All-State, first-team (Courier-Journal), as dad before playing four (4) years of QB at WKU and leaving with many established, all-time passing marks. Marty’s setting passing records was not distinct to college.

Marty passed for 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns at Trigg County from 1973-76.  Marty set nearly every passing record at Trigg County until another coach took over the program and installed the “spread offense” in 1999.

Marty Jaggers was 36-14 in four years as head coach at Mercer County, including a state title in 2006.  Marty also won 49 games in six seasons at Lincoln County in the early 1990s and served as an assistant coach at Danville.

Josh Jaggers, Marty’s son, was a first team all-state (AP, Courier Journal) football player and a finalist for the “Mr. Football” award, though playing along the line of scrimmage. Not many linemen can play well enough to put themselves in a “Mr. Football” race. Take our word for it. Josh signed with UK before transferring and finishing at Campbellsville.

High school football, when you’re a Jaggers, is the family business. Poppa Joe began as an assistant at Franklin-Simpson in 1963.

Joe would go on to be the head coach at Old Kentucky Home High, Nelson County, Trigg County where he would win titles in 1971 and 1972, Fort Knox where he would win titles in 1983, 1988, and 1990, and North Hardin, where Jaggers would finish his career with 77 wins against 23 defeats and semifinal appearances in 1991 and 1993.

Joe’s only loss in a championship game came at Fort Knox in 1984. Poppa Joe would lose that game to Newport Central Catholic, 12-7. Newport Central Catholic was coached by Bob Schneider.

Schneider would coach 44-years at Newport Central Catholic and finish 345-183-2. Schneider would also win three (3) titles and play for nine (9). Poppa Joe’s one loss wasn’t to a slouch, it was to another Dawahares, KHSAA Hall of Fame football coach. The KHSAA title game is a very good place to find those guys.

All-told, Joe Jaggers finished a 33-year head coaching career with 292-wins, 105-defeats, and three (3) ties. Poppa Joe would win 73% of the games in which he coached (400 games total) and would register an 83.33% winning percentage in KHSAA title games. Joe Jaggers gained induction into the Dawahares, KHSAA Hall of Fame in 1993.

Jaggers doesn’t belong to just Cadiz, Hardin County, Nelson County, nor Fort Knox. Joe Jaggers, and the remainder of his brood, belong to the commonwealth of Kentucky.

Joe Jaggers, and coaches like him, represent what is best in all of us. He, and coaches like him, are all of us.

This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!

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